Kamala Markandaya

Kamala Markandaya (1924 - May 16, 2004) was a pseudonym used by Kamala Purnaiya Taylor, an Indian novelist and journalist.A native of Mysore, India, Markandaya was a graduate of Madras University, and afterwards published several short stories in Indian newspapers. After India declared its independence, Markandaya moved to Britain, though she still labeled herself an Indian expatriate long afterwards.

Known for writing about culture clash between Indian urban and rural societies, Markandaya's first published novel, "Nectar in a Sieve", was a bestseller and named a notable book of 1955 by the American Library Association. Other novels include "Some Inner Fury" (1965), "A Silence of Desire" (1961), "Possession" (1963), "A Handful of Rice" (1966), "The Nowhere Man" (1972), "Two Virgins" (1973), "The Golden Honeycomb" (1977), and "Pleasure City" (1982/1983).

Markandaya died in London on May 16 2004.

See also

* Indian writing in English

Kamala Markandaya belonged to that pioneering group of Indian women writers who made their mark not just through their subject matter, but also through their fluid, polished literary style. "Nectar in a Sieve" was her first published work, and its depiction of rural India and the suffering of farmers made it popular in the West. This was followed by other fiction that dramatised the clash between East and West and the tragedy that resulted from it, or the problems facing ordinary middle-class Indians--making a living, finding inner peace, coping with modern technology and its effects on the poor.

Literary Criticism:
*Krishma Rao, A.V. "The Indo-Anglian Novel and Changing Tradition: A Study of the Novels of Mulk Raj Anad, Kamala Markandaya, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, 1930-64." Mysore: 1972.
*Joseph, Margaret P. "Kamala Markandaya," Indian Writers Series, N. Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann, 1980.
*Jha, Rekha. "The Novels of Kamala Markandaya and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: A Study in East-West Encounter." New Delhi: Prestige Books, 1990.
*Parameswaran, Uma. "Kamala Markandaya." Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2000.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8854174 Find-A-Grave biography]
* [http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Markandaya+Kamala]